When the goblins quietly attack Gandalf and the Dwarves, Bilbo is thrown aside in the confusion of the darkness and the ambush. He later
opened his eyes and found himself in complete darkness. He is then left to "get up and grope about on all fours" (76). Tolkien then leads Bilbo, after walking engulfed in darkness "all the way to tomorrow" (78), to find the unknown Gollum. This small, slimy, pale eyed, tunnel seeing creature of the water decided to make a deal with poor Bilbo, and it took place through a riddle contest. This conflict would mean
relying on memory and knowledge with the pressure of being eaten with a single flaw. This life or death riddle conflict between Bilbo and Gollum allowed Tolkien to draw readers in and keep them turning the pages, while at the same time he was able to wrap up the mountain scene and move on to the next smoothly. Without this simple character to character conflict, the story would become uneventful words on the page until the author would be able to transition to the next event or scene.
~Great job! Your voice really rings out! ~ Mrs. Best
Julia Warshauer 3/4/11 Reading 5
I thought that this was a very good conflict Virginia! I absolutely agree that this is a way Tolkein moved forward in the book. I am amazed with your word choice in this response! I thought it is very thorough and very detailed. I loved how you described Gollum! It gave me a very good picture of what he is and at first I barely knew what he was! I also like how you referred back to the book. I did the riddle conflict for my response to and I felt it kept me turning the pages. Good Job Virginia!!!!!!
~ Thanks for this nice discussion of literature! Mrs. Best
March 4th, 2011
In the Forest
Bilbo finally finds Gandalf and the Dwarves, and they must immediately continue on their journey, for fear of the hundreds of goblins that may come out searching for them at night. They continue walking through the "awkward country" (106), and come to a rocky landslide, on which they are forced to slide down or be left behind. (Most of them continued on with cuts or bruises.) As the shadows continue to grow longer, they walk through a wooded area at the edge of the land-sliding hill. For a few moments everything is somewhat okay, and they reach a wide and open area. What they see gathering in that plain horrifies them- wolves. Not the normal everyday kind of wolves, but nasty evil wolves who just so happen to get along quite nicely with the GOBLINS! They are once again faced with a life or death situation, and the only way they can escape- or at least give them some more time to live- is up into the trees. All of the dwarves and Gandalf scramble to trees and climb them, but poor Bilbo is too short. He cannot find a way up, so finally Dori comes to the rescue. As the wolves advance at high speed, Dori jumps down from his tree branch, grabs Bilbo, gets him up into the branches, and finally hurries himself up the branch just as the first wolf is about to grab at his heels. Now they are all safe; at least they are safe for the moment. They must find a way to get rid of the evil wolves before the goblins come and they are dead for sure. (The goblins just happened to have a meeting with the wolves in that exact place at that exact time, but they were late considering that the Great Goblin was just terminated by Gandalf.) Suddenly, though, Gandalf has a life-saving light bulb moment. With a few pinecones and his staff, he starts a multi- colored fire, and b
egins throwing the pinecones at the wolves. The wolves, being deathly afraid of fire, scramble to get rid of the flames on their backs, and end up starting some of the fallen forest brush and bracken on fire. Then the goblins arrive, and Bilbo's crew is about to have an even worse situation. The goblins, not being afraid of fire whatsoever (they live with fire in the mountains), decide to use Gandalf's own weapon against himself. They gather up brush and lay it among the trunks of the trees. They then get rid of all of the fires except for the one closest to the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo; that one they fed until it caught onto the brush at the trunks of the trees. This leaves Bilbo, the dwarves, and Gandalf in an extremely terrible and difficult situation. There is no way they can possibly escape now.
Suddenly, the Lord of the Eagles and some of his other eagles scoop up Gandalf and the dwarves from out of the tree!! (Bilbo was able to grab Dori's legs at the last second because he was about to be left behind.) Eagles are not fans of any certain group of creatures, and the goblins fear them. They are usually not even very kind, but they had been curious about the commotion going on in the woods, thinking it was the goblins creating the ruckus. They had helped Bilbo's group escape, and were taking them to their eyrie.
~ Super summary. Would like to hear just few sentences about your reaction to this.
~Mrs. Best
March 22nd, 2011 In life, I believe that adventure is what you want it to be. It is not the event that occurs, but it is your reaction to the event. Each day could be an adventure- your entire life could be an adventure- but that is only possible if you allow yourself to have fun and share in the gifts that God gave you. I think many times, especially in today's world, we get caught up in TV shows or video games, and forget about what we could be doing with our time on this earth. I look at adventure as something that you will leave you with a mindful of memories. This is definitely true for Bilbo (I know I wouldn't be able to forget about speaking to Gollum in the dark or talking with a deadly dragon.) It is up to us to lead our own lives; we could choose to make every day an adventure with everlasting memories or sit on the couch and remember an episode of a pointless TV show. The choice is up to us.
I was in the midst of an adventure when I moved from Grafton to Mequon. I think it was my first time even getting to see our new house. I was both excited and scared at the fact that we were moving because it was a larger home with a wonderfully huge yard, but I would have to part with what I had known to be my home for my entire life up to that point. I had no idea what sort of adventures would be waiting for me inside these doors, the doors that would be inhabited my future self. I remember entering my new garage, and looking back at the driveway and the road. I saw cars, trailers, and even hay trailers. They had all been borrowed by family members and close friends of my family. Looking back at that instance, it really helps me to understand that no matter where I go or where my life of adventure leads me, my family will always be there to support me. Knowing that fact, I also realize how much that means to me, and that I need to be there for my family or close friends no matter where they are in their life at the time. Being there for one another is what we are called to do.
~ Good work. ~Mrs. Best
April 6th, 2011
If Thorin would have lived, I think he would have deeply regretted his greed. Within the Lonely Mountain was not only the hoard of treasures, but also the memories of his family and the ways of the old days. "To claim [his family's] long forgotten gold" (18) and restore his family's belongings had been his dream since Smaug destroyed his beautiful home so many years before. When he finally had reached his destination, when he reached the place he had longed to be for endless years of sorrow, he could not help but to become sick with excitement and even greed.
"The mere fleeting glimpses of treasure which they had caught as they went along had rekindled all the fire of their dwarvish hearts; and when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is weakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce." (258)
This was true for our Thorin Oakenshield who, unfortunately, took charge of the mountain, and rejected anyone who tried
to be any part of it. His friends were forced to stay inside and work, and they were forced to keep watch over the wall they had built to keep other greedy people out.
After the war of five armies, Thorin saw how horrible greed could be. Everyone separately trying to gain a portion of the hoard had caused a bloody, violent, deathly disaster. He saw the fall of two of his men, Kili and Fili, and this would have been enough for it to click in his mind that his actions could not have been good. He also would have realized that in order to keep the mountain and the land around it peaceful, he would need to be on good terms with the men of Dale and the Elvish king (and the elves of his realm). If he would have lived, he probably would have done just what the other dwarves did; he would have given fair amounts of of the treasure to the surrounding areas sort of as a peace offering and because some of it was theirs anyway. Thorin was only sick with greed because he didn't have a plan for what his company and he would do once they got to the Lonely Mountain and achieved their goal, and he didn't want to loose any of the precious treasures. ~ This doesn't say what happened to Thorin before his death which is what would support your statement that he would have regretted his greed. ~Mrs. Best
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What Do I Think?
March 2nd, 2011
Character Conflict & Moving the Story Forward
When the goblins quietly attack Gandalf and the Dwarves, Bilbo is thrown aside in the confusion of the darkness and the ambush. He later
opened his eyes and found himself in complete darkness. He is then left to "get up and grope about on all fours" (76). Tolkien then leads Bilbo, after walking engulfed in darkness "all the way to tomorrow" (78), to find the unknown Gollum. This small, slimy, pale eyed, tunnel seeing creature of the water decided to make a deal with poor Bilbo, and it took place through a riddle contest. This conflict would mean
relying on memory and knowledge with the pressure of being eaten with a single flaw. This life or death riddle conflict between Bilbo and Gollum allowed Tolkien to draw readers in and keep them turning the pages, while at the same time he was able to wrap up the mountain scene and move on to the next smoothly. Without this simple character to character conflict, the story would become uneventful words on the page until the author would be able to transition to the next event or scene.
~Great job! Your voice really rings out! ~ Mrs. Best
Julia Warshauer
3/4/11
Reading 5
I thought that this was a very good conflict Virginia! I absolutely agree that this is a way Tolkein moved forward in the book. I am amazed with your word choice in this response! I thought it is very thorough and very detailed. I loved how you described Gollum! It gave me a very good picture of what he is and at first I barely knew what he was! I also like how you referred back to the book. I did the riddle conflict for my response to and I felt it kept me turning the pages. Good Job Virginia!!!!!!
~ Thanks for this nice discussion of literature! Mrs. Best
March 4th, 2011
In the Forest
Bilbo finally finds Gandalf and the Dwarves, and they must immediately continue on their journey, for fear of the hundreds of goblins that may come out searching for them at night. They continue walking through the "awkward country" (106), and come to a rocky landslide, on which they are forced to slide down or be left behind. (Most of them continued on with cuts or bruises.) As the shadows continue to grow longer, they walk through a wooded area at the edge of the land-sliding hill. For a few moments everything is somewhat okay, and they reach a wide and open area. What they see gathering in that plain horrifies them- wolves. Not the normal everyday kind of wolves, but nasty evil wolves who just so happen to get along quite nicely with the GOBLINS! They are once again faced with a life or death situation, and the only way they can escape- or at least give them some more time to live- is up into the trees. All of the dwarves and Gandalf scramble to trees and climb them, but poor Bilbo is too short. He cannot find a way up, so finally Dori comes to the rescue. As the wolves advance at high speed, Dori jumps down from his tree branch, grabs Bilbo, gets him up into the branches, and finally hurries himself up the branch just as the first wolf is about to grab at his heels. Now they are all safe; at least they are safe for the moment. They must find a way to get rid of the evil wolves before the goblins come and they are dead for sure. (The goblins just happened to have a meeting with the wolves in that exact place at that exact time, but they were late considering that the Great Goblin was just terminated by Gandalf.) Suddenly, though, Gandalf has a life-saving light bulb moment. With a few pinecones and his staff, he starts a multi- colored fire, and b
egins throwing the pinecones at the wolves. The wolves, being deathly afraid of fire, scramble to get rid of the flames on their backs, and end up starting some of the fallen forest brush and bracken on fire. Then the goblins arrive, and Bilbo's crew is about to have an even worse situation. The goblins, not being afraid of fire whatsoever (they live with fire in the mountains), decide to use Gandalf's own weapon against himself. They gather up brush and lay it among the trunks of the trees. They then get rid of all of the fires except for the one closest to the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo; that one they fed until it caught onto the brush at the trunks of the trees. This leaves Bilbo, the dwarves, and Gandalf in an extremely terrible and difficult situation. There is no way they can possibly escape now.
Suddenly, the Lord of the Eagles and some of his other eagles scoop up Gandalf and the dwarves from out of the tree!! (Bilbo was able to grab Dori's legs at the last second because he was about to be left behind.) Eagles are not fans of any certain group of creatures, and the goblins fear them. They are usually not even very kind, but they had been curious about the commotion going on in the woods, thinking it was the goblins creating the ruckus. They had helped Bilbo's group escape, and were taking them to their eyrie.
~ Super summary. Would like to hear just few sentences about your reaction to this.
~Mrs. Best
March 22nd, 2011
In life, I believe that adventure is what you want it to be. It is not the event that occurs, but it is your reaction to the event. Each day could be an adventure- your entire life could be an adventure- but that is only possible if you allow yourself to have fun and share in the gifts that God gave you. I think many times, especially in today's world, we get caught up in TV shows or video games, and forget about what we could be doing with our time on this earth. I look at adventure as something that you will leave you with a mindful of memories. This is definitely true for Bilbo (I know I wouldn't be able to forget about speaking to Gollum in the dark or talking with a deadly dragon.) It is up to us to lead our own lives; we could choose to make every day an adventure with everlasting memories or sit on the couch and remember an episode of a pointless TV show. The choice is up to us.
I was in the midst of an adventure when I moved from Grafton to Mequon. I think it was my first time even getting to see our new house. I was both excited and scared at the fact that we were moving because it was a larger home with a wonderfully huge yard, but I would have to part with what I had known to be my home for my entire life up to that point. I had no idea what sort of adventures would be waiting for me inside these doors, the doors that would be inhabited my future self. I remember entering my new garage, and looking back at the driveway and the road. I saw cars, trailers, and even hay trailers. They had all been borrowed by family members and close friends of my family. Looking back at that instance, it really helps me to understand that no matter where I go or where my life of adventure leads me, my family will always be there to support me. Knowing that fact, I also realize how much that means to me, and that I need to be there for my family or close friends no matter where they are in their life at the time. Being there for one another is what we are called to do.
~ Good work. ~Mrs. Best
April 6th, 2011
If Thorin would have lived, I think he would have deeply regretted his greed. Within the Lonely Mountain was not only the hoard of treasures, but also the memories of his family and the ways of the old days. "To claim [his family's] long forgotten gold" (18) and restore his family's belongings had been his dream since Smaug destroyed his beautiful home so many years before. When he finally had reached his destination, when he reached the place he had longed to be for endless years of sorrow, he could not help but to become sick with excitement and even greed.
"The mere fleeting glimpses of treasure which they had caught as they went along had rekindled all the fire of their dwarvish hearts; and when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is weakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce." (258)
This was true for our Thorin Oakenshield who, unfortunately, took charge of the mountain, and rejected anyone who tried
After the war of five armies, Thorin saw how horrible greed could be. Everyone separately trying to gain a portion of the hoard had caused a bloody, violent, deathly disaster. He saw the fall of two of his men, Kili and Fili, and this would have been enough for it to click in his mind that his actions could not have been good. He also would have realized that in order to keep the mountain and the land around it peaceful, he would need to be on good terms with the men of Dale and the Elvish king (and the elves of his realm). If he would have lived, he probably would have done just what the other dwarves did; he would have given fair amounts of of the treasure to the surrounding areas sort of as a peace offering and because some of it was theirs anyway. Thorin was only sick with greed because he didn't have a plan for what his company and he would do once they got to the Lonely Mountain and achieved their goal, and he didn't want to loose any of the precious treasures. ~ This doesn't say what happened to Thorin before his death which is what would support your statement that he would have regretted his greed. ~Mrs. Best